At Her Service: His Baby! / Major Attraction

Though a part of her warmed to hear him speak so protectively of Emily, another part—the independent heart of her, had to say something. “Jeff, you didn’t leave me alone and pregnant.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Neither of us knew when you left.”

“Doesn’t change the facts, does it?” He tossed the last of his champagne down his throat, set the glass down and stood up. Feet braced wide apart, arms folded across his chest, he stood staring out at the black ocean, and his gaze locked on the silvery trail of moonlight that stretched out into eternity.

Kelly set her own glass down and stood up to join him. Standing directly in front of him, she placed both hands on the corded muscles of his forearms and looked up into his face. She kept staring at him until he lowered his gaze to hers.

In the glow of the moonlight, she saw the shadows in his eyes darken and gather and she wasn’t sure if it was anger or pain. All she knew was that she wanted to ease those shadows back.

“You didn’t know,” she repeated, her voice firm.

His jaw worked and she could almost hear his teeth grinding. “Like I said, that doesn’t change the facts, does it?”

“And I wasn’t alone,” she pointed out. “I wouldn’t think I’d have to remind you of that. The guys have been ‘dropping by’ on you all week while you’ve been watching Emily.”

In fact, the Rogan brothers had made a point of checking up on Jeff. Not a day went by that one of her brothers hadn’t been at her house when she got home from work. And though the week had started out rough, by Friday, even Kevin had warmed up some toward Jeff.

And Kelly wasn’t sure which was better—them liking Jeff or not liking him? Either way, her brothers had plenty to say to her about him.

“No, you weren’t alone,” he admitted, and unfolded those arms to pull her in close. “But I wasn’t there. And I should have been.”

Exasperation kicked in. Talk about a hard head. “Are you going to beat yourself up over this for the next twenty or thirty years?” “What do you expect?” “I expect you to get over it. Emily’s here. My pregnancy is long done and everyone’s fine.”

He moved one hand to cup her cheek. “Yeah, and that’s something else.”

She blew out a breath, and the curls on her forehead danced. “What?”

“I missed seeing you pregnant.”

Kelly laughed shortly. Frankly, she was more than grateful that he hadn’t seen her at her biggest. Call it vanity, but she knew darn well she’d been as big as a house.